Need Advice! Please Help!

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Hi Everyone,

So I would really appreciate any and all advice you could give me. I'm currently in the middle of obtaining a bachelors degree in a major that I don't necessarily care for nor do I plan to work in the field as there aren't many opportunities. I realized pretty late into my degree that I would love to pursue nursing (This is what happens when you expect 18 y/os to go straight to university and commit to a career for the rest of their lives!)

I'm 22 and have 1.5-2 years left before I graduate. I feel so behind and I just want to start my life and career already. I'm tempted to hit pause on my current degree and go straight into taking my pre-reqs to apply for nursing school. I'm a lot more interested in going the route of ADN and then doing a RN to BSN program. Is this reasonable or should I finish my current degree first? Either way, I absolutely plan to complete my current degree as I've already put so much time,work and money into it. It's just a matter of when. Now, or after I'm already working as an RN.

After doing a ton of research I've found out that:

1. Accelerated BSN's are expensive and I wouldn't be eligible for federal grants which is a huge factor for me

2. I only need to take my science pre-reqs and can hopefully apply to programs by next fall

What is the most efficient way to go about my situation? I know this is a huge decision, I've thought long and hard about this for nearly a year. My heart is absolutely set on pursuing nursing. Please give me your real, honest advice! Thank you so much in advance.

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What is your current major? To get finical aid having a complete degree makes it easier. That is because after so many credit hours with out graduating they see you as being a professional student and you will not be able to receive any grant money. You should also take a CNA program first it will help you in a lot of different ways.

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17 minutes ago, Red Shirt 6 said:

What is your current major? To get finical aid having a complete degree makes it easier. That is because after so many credit hours with out graduating they see you as being a professional student and you will not be able to receive any grant money. You should also take a CNA program first it will help you in a lot of different ways.

My major is psychology. I can afford to pay for an ADN program without fafsa but if I finish my degree and then decide to pursue a BSN or ABSN, I would not qualify for federal grants and I could not afford it otherwise. I'm definitely considering a CNA program as well!

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22 minutes ago, Red Shirt 6 said:

What is your current major? To get finical aid having a complete degree makes it easier. That is because after so many credit hours with out graduating they see you as being a professional student and you will not be able to receive any grant money. You should also take a CNA program first it will help you in a lot of different ways.

From my understanding, once you have a bachelors degree you are no longer eligible to receive federal aid for a second bachelors or higher degree. Only loans and scholarships

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Specializes in Emergency / Disaster.

If you do the ADN and then RN-BSN wouldn't you have enough financial aid left to cover that - or almost cover it? Have you considered just transferring into a BSN program?

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1 minute ago, bitter_betsy said:

If you do the ADN and then RN-BSN wouldn't you have enough financial aid left to cover that - or almost cover it? Have you considered just transferring into a BSN program?

Yes, sorry. I meant to say that if I finish my current degree and then purse a BSN program, I would not be eligible for fafsa. Once I have a bachelors degree I'm no longer eligible to receive federal grants toward a second bachelors or higher degree. Which is part of my dilemma of continuing my current degree or pausing and going straight for ADN

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7 minutes ago, bitter_betsy said:

If you do the ADN and then RN-BSN wouldn't you have enough financial aid left to cover that - or almost cover it? Have you considered just transferring into a BSN program?

And yes I have also considered transferring into a BSN program as well! I just don't know if the idea of leaving my current degree is ridiculous or reasonable

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Specializes in Emergency / Disaster.

While you don't get grants - if you have not used all of your federal loan $$ then you still have that. I'm the nimrod that paid off all my student loans and then thought it would be fun to run them totally up again... but I did get them all paid off the first time, so I'm confident I'll pay them all off again.

And leaving your current major.... if you decide that you ever want to be a psych NP - it could be beneficial for you. Otherwise - probably not.

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If I were in your shoes j would finish the Bachelors, then apply to a direct entry MSN so you can use graduate loans. You will make the money back by getting to work faster, especially if you go on to get a pmhnp cert and work as a psych np. There are a handful of programs out there that will let you use Straighterline, edukan, or portage learning for your prerequisites and get them done for under 5k or so. You could do that during the six months following graduation while working while your undergraduate loans are on deferral, etc.

if your heart is set on staying local that pidgeonholes you in to whatever is in your area.

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Advice I would give,

Go for ADN if you want to save money. Try to get a school that offers LPN for the first year (Take the NCLEX-PN) that way, if you fail RN year (2nd year), you have at least the LPN to fall back to work until you complete the RN portion. If you decided and complete the ADN route, then go for BSN Online. There are affordable options out there and can save you THOUSANDS.

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